Apple is going to change how texting works from an iPhone to Android, making it much easier to send photos and videos. You need to know this!
New way of texting on iPhone
Good news if you prefer not to use WhatsApp, because texting from an iPhone to Android will be much better next year. Apple will switch to RCS in 2024 (rich communication services). This is a new standard for sending messages between different operating systems. This new way of texting makes sending messages between iPhone and Android much easier.
Also read: Android still does these three things better than Apple
While you are currently limited to a maximum length of 160 characters in a message, with RCS you have much more freedom. With this new standard you have almost all the options that you currently have with iMessage and WhatsApp. You will soon also be able to send photos and videos via SMS from an iPhone to Android, without needing WhatsApp. This changes even more!
Benefits of RCS with Apple and Android
New European legislation now ensures that Apple is finally switching to RCS. The technology has been around since 2007, but Apple refused to expand the Messages app with RCS. Instead, the company expanded iMessage to sell more iPhones. Now iMessage has many more options with RCS, which will significantly change the process of sending a text message from iPhone to Android.
RCS lets you share high-quality photos and videos via text message, including from an iPhone to a device running Android. In addition, you can send audio messages and create group conversations with RCS. You no longer need an app for this, such as WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger. These apps will therefore become redundant, because you will soon only need iMessage on your iPhone.
iMessage will change in 2024
Apple has announced that iMessage will be expanded with RCS in 2024. The messages you send via the new technology will then appear in green text boxes, just as is currently the case with text messages. This will soon allow you to easily send messages from an iPad or Mac to an Android device, because iMessage can also be used from those devices. This means you no longer have to wait for WhatsApp on the iPad, for which a special iPad app has not yet been released.
Also read: Apple copied these iOS 17 features from Android
It is not yet known when Apple will expand iMessage with RCS. Apple usually releases a major iOS update in September, when the new iPhone is also announced. That would mean that RCS will come to iMessage with iOS 18. It is also possible that the new feature will come earlier with an interim update, but probably not yet in iOS 17.2. You can expect these features in iOS 17.2!
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